Gun Exec: "We Have A Problem" With Research On Gun Crimes

After meeting with Vice President Joe Biden, Johanna Reeves of the Independent Firearms Association told Sean Hannity that in the gun industry, they "have a problem" with gun research: the conclusions.

What's the hard data on guns in America? The gun lobby would rather we just don't look into that.

Gun advocates such as the NRA are often chastised for being unwilling to negotiate on even the simplest reforms and initiatives on gun policy, and Johanna Reeves, Executive Director of the Firearms Import Export Roundtable only reinforced this idea in an interview with Sean Hannity after she and other representatives from pro-gun groups, including the NRA met with Vice President Joe Biden. It’s expected that Biden and Reeves would disagree about the role of guns in society, but it was shocking how little ground Reeves and others in the gun lobby were willing to give. Reeves:

One of the things that Vice President Biden mentioned in his press conference, the issue of having a federal agency do research on gun crimes. In the industry we have a problem with that, we have concerns because in the past, the way that research has been used has been to validate and perpetuate gun control.

This quote from Reeves really strikes at the shaky credibility of the gun lobby. They oppose new data on guns in America. It should be clear why: data is absolute. It is non-partisan. It can’t be primaried. It can, of course, be questioned, but it’s much easier to question a theory or a policy than a finding from a non-partisan group. Reeves reason drives the point home: research can have conclusions you don’t like. Arguing is much easier when you can bring your own facts to the table, and the gun lobby fears that the facts in America right now would call for increased gun control.